$1m rewards on offer to solve the grisly murders of three young Ballarat women
The murders of three young, independent women in the Ballarat region more than two decades ago remain unsolved despite $1 million rewards. But cold case detectives have not given up hope.
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Nina Nicholson, Tracey Howard and Belinda Williams shared a macabre link.
All three young women were murdered in the Ballarat region in the 1990s, and their killers have never been brought to justice.
Although their cases are not linked, the grim nature of their deaths is long remembered by their loved ones and the Ballarat community.
A $1 million reward was offered in 2015 for information that leads to the conviction of the killers in each case.
Cold case detectives are still investigating and are hopeful that vital breakthrough will come their way.
NINA NICHOLSON
Nina Nicholson, a 22-year-old nurse in the children’s ward at Ballarat’s St John of God Hospital, was found dead at her home in Suburban St, Clunes, on September 10, 1991.
Detective Senior Sergeant Paul Scarlett of the Homicide Missing Persons Squad said Nina was found in a pool of blood on the back porch of her home.
“Investigators believe she was involved in a violent struggle with the offender and received serious head injuries,” he told the Herald Sun.
Nina, whose truck driver husband Nick was away on a run to Adelaide, shared dinner at her parents’ Clunes home and left at 8pm to get ready for her 9.30pm shift.
When she failed to arrive, a colleague phoned Nina’s parents.
Her father “Spike” Jones and brother Andrew called at her house and found her battered body. Her purse and credit cards were found undisturbed nearby.
Detectives were investigating the possibility Nina had been attacked by a peeping Tom as she left home that night.
She had reported hearing an intruder around her home previously.
About 15 years ago, detectives questioned a man but released him without charge.
In 2015, when the $1 million reward was announced in Nina’s case, her mother Ann told the Herald Sun: “I think it’s absolutely great news. There’s got to be someone out there who knows who killed Nina”.
TRACEY HOWARD
A spur-of-the-moment decision to go out to a popular Ballarat nightspot proved fatal for Tracey Howard.
The 23-year-old Mars Confectionery paymaster, described by detectives as hardworking and
responsible, had been living with her partner of five years, Shane Dunn, in the Brown Hill house she bought when she and three co-workers won a major prize in Tattslotto.
She went to Cheers with her best friend Sue Slater but Tracey went to the bathroom, the pair missed each other on her return and Tracey left alone about 3.15am on Sunday, November 22, in 1998.
Shane thought Tracey had stayed overnight at Sue’s, but reported Tracey missing 20 hours after she was last seen.
Tracey’s naked body was found dumped beside Clarkes Hill Rd, a lonely back road at Pootilla, 20km east of Ballarat.
Her clothes were strewn along half a kilometre of the road. She had been strangled, but there were no signs of sexual assault. She was not carrying cash or a purse that night.
“(We believe she) walked to a nearby taxi rank, before getting into a taxi,” Detective Sen-Sgt Scarlett said.
“Tracey may have been killed in her own home and her body later dumped in Clarkes Hill Rd.”
At the time, police interviewed all 54 taxi drivers working in Ballarat the night she disappeared.
Sue Slater said in 1998 that she couldn’t understand why anyone would harm Tracey, who by all accounts planned to marry and have children with Shane.
“Why did you kill a wonderful woman who would never hurt even a fly?” Ms Slater said.
“No one could have asked for a better friend and now some bastard has destroyed her.
“I have one thing to say to the killer — you took away my best friend and now you must pay.”
BELINDA WILLIAMS
When Belinda Williams was last seen alive on the night of June 25, 1999, she was settling into bed to read her six-year-old daughter Mietta a story.
She had been entertaining two girlfriends until about 9.30pm.
Thirty minutes later, she tried to make phone contact with her estranged partner, with whom she had a friendly relationship.
At some point during the night Belinda, 36, vanished.
Mietta woke up alone.
Police, SES crews and volunteers searched the bush around Buninyong for any sign of Belinda.
Her body, dressed only in a nightshirt, was found by bushwalkers 11 days after she vanished at Mount Buninyong.
Belinda was strangled, and her body dumped in scrub down an embankment.
“We believe Belinda was killed in her home while her six-year-old daughter slept and her body later dumped in Mt Buninyong Access Road,” he said.
In 2014, detectives said they believed Belinda’s killer was known to her and that they had a suspect in mind but lacked the evidence top lay charges.
Belinda’s mother Shirley Macey told the Herald Sun it’s possible she was murdered by a
holiday-maker in the area who had observed her during her regular walks.
“Why would anyone cover up for somebody who is obviously evil?” she said.
“We want them to please contact police.”
Detective Sen-Sgt Scarlett stressed the three murders were not linked – but he said they are solvable.
“Investigators know there will be someone out there who knows what happened to Nina, Tracey and Belinda and we hope that through the passage of time, these people will now be in a position to come forward and assist us with providing answers to the families of the three women,” he said.
The Director of Public Prosecutions may consider offering an indemnity from prosecution to anyone who comes forward to identify the principal offender or offenders in each case, he said.
Anyone with information is urged to phone Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or submit a confidential crime report at crimestoppersvic.com.au
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